Nigeria’s headline inflation peaked at 24.08 percent in July 2023 from 22.79 percent in the previous month, surging by 1.29 percentage points.
The consumer price index which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics disclosed that: “On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.44 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2022, which was 19.64 per cent.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate, year-on-year basis, increased in July 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year, i.e., July 2022”.
The significant jump is following the complete removal of fuel subsidy and the unification/devaluation of the official exchange rate. Notably, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 2.89% in July which was 0.76% higher than the rate recorded in June 2023, 2.13%.
In terms of contribution to the year-on-year inflation, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, 12.47%, contributed the most, followed by housing water, electricity, gas and other fuel, 4.03%, and clothing and footwear, 1.84%.
The “All items less farm produce” or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 20.47% in July 2023 on a year-on-year basis; up by 4.41% when compared to the 16.06% recorded in July 2022.
Credible News reports that the latest figure is the seventh consecutive rise in the country’s inflation rate this year.